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PurposeThis introduction aims to review the present state of research on employment relations in Africa, and provide an overview of subsequent papers.Design/methodology/approachThe article provides a brief review on the journal issue.FindingsDespite considerable diversity across the continent, a number of common issues and themes emerge. These would include the sharp divide between formal and informal work, the problems faced by unions in organizing in contexts where formal employment is shrinking, and the often negative effects of liberalization. What all the articles in this special issue point to is that the prospects of enhancing the quality of working life, and imparting greater fairness to the implementation of the employment contract is contingent on both national institution building – allowing for the nurturing of complementarities conducive to the expansion, entrenchment and development of higher value added production paradigms – and fairer terms, more equitable relations with the developed world.Practical implicationsUnderstanding of the practice of employment relations in Africa can be greatly advanced through collaborative initiatives aimed at developing the capacity of emerging scholars and ensuring that the work of more mature scholars of employment based at African universities receives the exposure it deserves.Originality/valueThe article introduces the papers in the issue.

"Combining the literature on comparative capitalism with that on comparative HRM, Human Resource Management and the Institutional Perspective explores the overlapping and distinct elements in work and employment relations both within and across country lines. The authors focus on intra-firm relations, internal diversity within varieties of capitalism, and the uneven and experimental nature of systemic change, all the while employing an impressive level of theoretical rigor and empirical evidence. For those interested in contemporary developments in institutional theory, the relationship between regulation and practice, and innovation and continuity in HRM, this book is a valuable resource. In a single volume, this text unites soundly based, theoretically strong and empirically new chapters that bring advances in institutional theory to bear on the subject of international and comparative Human Resource Management"--